The accurate isolation of electrical component faults which may occur in complex equipments and systems, such as electronic data processors, is of prime importance. Presently, techniques have been developed for detecting such faults and for recording fault histories. However, such techniques are generally limited in scope, do not address fault isolation at a system level and lack general application. A need has existed for a generalized fault reporting technique that is independent of the design technology and is applicable to all levels of the system implementation, such as the unit itself, card module level, or integrated circuit chip component level.
The system described and claimed herein fills such a need. Additionally, the present system offers the advantages of being independent of the fault or error detection technique and of being applicable to any operating equipment independent of its function and operation. The system also provides a relatively low cost method for accurate automatic fault isolation and may be applied to automatic equipment reconfiguration.